Owing to the advance made in benzol production in Germany during the past year—some 130,000 tons being produced —that country is now independent of foreign supplies in times both of peace and war. - ; . ■.''"■

A speed of 132 mileg iili lioUi' recently chained: on a 300-h.p. Fiat motorcar bandied by -M. Duray, the we^Y-known French driver. This speed «fas established over a flying, straight-, way kilometre (1093 yards)" at Ostettd. Duray's time was 16.9 secoilds, and is the fastest yet attained.on.a motor-car.

The unusual sight of a woman stooking sheaves in a paddock was observed yesterday at . Winchmore. She was assisted by.a*couple of small boys. The crop was kdavy wheat, and all three wore going about the work in a manner that would have put some farm labourers to shamei -

The Question:.a'sN ttr who' is the'most skilful • with the reins, man or. woman, appears to have be^ti settled on the first day of" the Feilding Show. In the driving .competition there were 13 entrants —three ladies and 10 ■ men, and the first, second, and third places were filled by the lady drivers.

A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that nominations for the Public Service Superannuation Board were considered on Wednesday by the Auckland section of the Public Service Association. It was decided to support the candidature of Messrs M. Fraser (Wellington), J. W. McDonald (Wellington), and H. W. Bishop, S.M. (Chnstchurch).

Although the South Otago Freezing Works opened oil Tuesday, it is not expected (the "Free .Press"-.-states) that anything, like the, maximum.. capacity of the works will'be needed for a few weeks, and at present only five or six butchers are on the board. An important development this season will be the killing of cattle, for which full provision has been made.

. The death is announced of Mile. Lacaux, who died in the village of Nauvion, near Laon. Mile. Lacaux was 75 years old.' Fifty-five years ago (the "Express " says) she went to bed and declared that sho would never get up again. There was nothing at all the matter with her except the dislike for getting up, but she kept her word, and died without having put her foot to the ground for more than half a century.

Captain Andrews .was in Ashburton yesterday making arrangements for the inspection of local cadets by .General Godley, next Thursday. Companies "Nbs. 14, 35, andk36 will be inspected, and will fall-in at the. drillshed at 12 o'clock, proceeding afterwards to the Domainj where the inspection ceremony will take place at 12:45 p.m.. The military authorities trust that employers will do their best to allow employees who are cadete to take part in the cereriiioriy*'■.■';; ■'•'-■■ ' ;- : - :

ItJis seldom that the services of -«a. farmer's womenfolk are called into use to drive stock, or to.perform the work generally undertaken by males, but -when one takes into account the ever-present difficulty in procuring the necessary amount of labour when it is most urgently needed, and in-retaining all the available male hands in the harvest field,- it is more easily understandable. On one of the main roads out of Methven-on-Thursday.: a •■woman was noticed taking a couple of draught horses to tho sale at the township. She herself was rising & hack and leading the two others, and did not appear to, regard'the position as anything out of the ordinary.

*he State Firo Insurance Department lias mado a, profit for the year ]913 ol' £15,026, as against £14,023 l-1w.1012.

>A novel motor-car hill climb was recently held in France, the contestants having to stop their cars at a given Ponit during, the climb, reverse for 10 var.ds,--and start off again for the top of the hill. The test proved efficiency, and flexibility of engines, and afforded a.good opportunity for display of skill hi driving.

r A postal cler.k who gave evidence in the Supreme Court in Wellington (the "Dominion" reports) said that it was not unusual, but very common, for people to make application at the lettercounter to v receive the letters of others, and'for'.people to send along orders asking the Post Office to ' 'deliver letters to bearer." The case before the court at the ,liime ,\vas one in which a young woman was alleged to have written an "authority" for herself to receive another woman's letters. .-.'...-

"Grazing for horses—with docked tails, 6d a clay; with long tails, Is a .day." This is* a notice which \ appears in a meadow near Dieppe (the "Mail" says). The owner of the meadow, when asked for an explanation of the difference in the charges, replied: "A docked horse is constantly irritated by the flies, and keeps.on stopping his grazing to drive them-, off by swinging his head. A long-tailed horse keeps off the flies with his tail, and. so can; keep on grazing without interruption."

A consignment. 'of six  draught stallions left AsTimirton this; morning en route to Lyttelton for shipment to Melbourne for-; an .Australian stallion buyer. The sale was arranged by the Ashburton branqbr.of the ; New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association, Ltd., arid i the animals were bred' by the: following vwell-knpwn Ashburton County breeders:'—Mr John. Grigg, Mr ,T. '-Tnylor,-- Mr^'M/ Campbell (Roxburgh), Mr T..:.McLea, and Mr G. J. Anderson. The ...sales were considered to be very satisfactory ones.

Coal consumers-on a large scale have already financially felt the effects of the recent strike (says the " Post "). The Wellington ;Gas Company, as a heavy user of coal, has written off a large amount, the difference between the ordinary.price of coal and coal imported from overseas for use in its undertaking. Since December 31, £3000 has been set aside towards meeting this year's losses in overseas coal purchased during the strike, much of which is still to be delivered at Miramax 1. '''■.■•■-. "■•■■' •:" ■ .

The establishment' of an agricultural scholarship in. commemmoration of the action of the farmers of the Auckland Province .in .rendering such effective service during; the late strike is being taken up in earnest by the women of Auckland (says the Auckland "Herald"). An active campaign for the collection of th? necessary funds has been planned for "this month. -.A management committee tif U iirt&.Men formed, and each niembel 1 has in turn formed a sub-committee,"the members of which have -commenced;'; a canvass throughout the district.

" The accused, Who says he just went there out of curiosity, had no business there," remarked the Chief Justice (Sir Robert-Stout):at Wellington last wee k in the course, of summing up in a case in which a man was charged with taking part in a riot. "If there is a riot," continuedi his Honour, "the prisoner ought to have got, out of it. 'In' strictest law, even if he was doing -nothing, he was liable to be arrested for faking part. The assumption of the law is that, if a man goes to an unlawful assembly,' he> goes there with the intention of taking part therein."

The most ingenious means of defrauding a penuy-in-the-slot gas -meter has been discovered, according to the Paris " Journal," in Honolulu. The gas company/ in Honolulu recently found that one of its customers was undoubtedly consuming large quantities of gas, although no coins were ever found in his meter. Baffled in its attempts to discover the fraud, the company at last offered to pay the man for his secret, at the same time, guaranteeing him against prosecution., He then showed, it a mould of the exact size of the copper coin used for the meter and an ice machine. :,He explained that with these he made a disc of ice, which lie put into the meter to release a supply of gas. The disc then melted and the water dried up, so that when the meter came to be opened there was, nothing inside.

The danger of playing., the /peacemaker in street- jquarrels jn Paris was shown recently, when a wall-dressed young man, who interfered^ with four apaches who were quarrelling in the Avenue do I'Opera, was shot dead. The apache who fired the fatal shot ran up 'the avenue towards the Opera', still holding the revolver. ..He was ■followed by a crowd, at whom he shoi, one of the bullets passing through the overcoat of his nearest pursuer. At the corner of the Rue dv 4 Septembre he was stopped "by "two "cyclist policemen", who fired in the air and made him drop his weapon. He gave his name ns Charles Stubenranch, and said that the stranger bad been shot by accident. Two of his companions were also captured. ; v;: ;■... : .'.

After travelling round the world on a 12: months? .jaunt, Margaret' IJougan,, a fashionable young woman, was; arrested at Sydney recently for absconding from bait"in Victoria. She has been returned, to Melbourne, and is now in Pentridgev serving a sentence of six months for the vagabond offence, and the police are .considering whether to take action against her for"-leaving the State while at liberty' on bail. She was well known to -the police in Melbourne, and when arrested , last February and convicted at the City Court, she .appealed. While the appeal was pending she disappeared. The appeal was upheld, but Dougan was missing. Since, leaving Melbourne she said she had been to West Australia, South Africa, London, Liverpool, and New York. She was arrested at New' York on suspicion of being an accomplice of a smuggler, with whom she had become' acquainted, but she'Vas released. Then she went to Honolulu,' 1 and from there to New Zealand. In Auckland she was recognised, and a cablegram to the New South Wales Department resulted in Constable Hiekling meeting her at Sydney when the steamer arrived.

Ford Ooy.'s New Prices.—On and after Ist March the cash price of Ford Oars delivered in Ashburton will be as follows. Touring Oar £195. Runabout £180. The February Shipment is nearly a) 1 booked at £193 for Touring Oars. Mr Carson states that all Cars booked out of this shipment at £193 will be delivered at that price. There are still two Touring Cars available, and buyers are advised to see the new Models and secure one of these without delay. .' 1 45

Grain-carting has already commenced in the Ashburton County, and to-day several heavy loads passed through the town, appearing to come from the Wakanui district.

An extraordinary feature of the physical instruction classes for teachers being held, in Hawke's Bay is the large proportion of teachers who had to be excused on medical certificates of unfitness.

That bringing up orphaned lambs by hand sometimes , pays is illustrated by the fact that one of last season's "pets," 13 months old, brought up by the sister of a Waiau runholder, clipped 17r}lb. of wool. The length of the wool was 6in.

A Press Association telegram from Timaru states that, favoured by a brilliant afternoon, the floral fete yesterday in aid of the funds for improving the Southern Park was successful beyond expectations. Despite a counterattraction in the outdoor concert by the Artillery Band, the takings were between £500 and £600, and the expenses were not heavy.

Some farmers are, so to speak, at present sitting on labour agents' doorsteps waiting for men to turn up to help with the harvest. The time to pick and choose has gone by, and just at present previous experience is not a necessity for those willing to work. One labour agent was to-day asked for 22 men more than he was. able to supply. - ..

Two residents of New South Wales who went to the Northern Territory for ,the purpose of settling there have returned to Sydney with the .firm, conviction that the territory is riot a white man's. One of them, Mr Franklin, [discussing the pastoral possibilities of thei country, said that for a distance of 400 miles around Darwin, excluding the Barclay Tableland, which he had not visited,' the land looked very beautiful, but did not appear to be suitablo for agricultural or grazing pursuits. Phenomenal rains had fallen lately in the Territory, with the result that big floods were being experienced in many parts. Just before he left Pine Creek a constable came in from the Catherine and Daly Rivers, >and he brought information to the. effect that the land was inundated by the biggest floods experienced since 1879. It was not known how farmers on the Daly River had fared. It ■ was believed that three railway bridges had been destroyed.

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